Overview

• Engineers at the University of South Australia have created a prototype navigation system for drones that uses visual data from stars instead of GPS.
• The system integrates a Raspberry Pi 5, a monochrome sensor, and a wide-angle lens to capture and analyze star positions for location estimation.
• This approach is resistant to GPS jamming, as it relies on passive celestial navigation rather than radio frequency signals.
• Initial tests demonstrated the system's ability to estimate a drone's position with an accuracy of 4 kilometers, though improvements are still needed for greater precision.
• The technology has potential applications in defense, environmental monitoring, and long-range operations over oceans or in remote areas.